About 7,900 Boston Public Schools students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through third grade will be invited to return to classrooms next week for the first time in nearly a year as the district moves ahead with a plan announced last month to gradually phase in hybrid learning from an all-remote model. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said the students who opt-in to the hybrid of remote and in-person learning will join nearly 7,000 students in high-priority groups that have already been invited back.

The positivity rate is in the right place," Walsh said Thursday. "We're seeing the trends going in the right direction, so getting our kids in school now is the next important step."

Walsh said school building safety measures will include air purifiers in every occupied space, the "best possible filters in all HVAC systems," medical-grade personal protective equipment for staff, and disposable masks available to students and staffs. Under the district's plan, students in grades four through eight will be eligible to start attending school in-person, again through the hybrid model, the week of March 15, followed by high schoolers the week of March 29.